Bike Infrastructure

[DPatel304]

Came across some new(ish) bike lanes along Commerce St that spanned from Good Latimer to Cesar Chavez Blvd. It looks like possibly the plan is to have the bike lanes continue across Cesar Chavez and onto Jackson St? I'm not exactly sure how that is supposed to work since cars aren't (currently) stopping where the future bike lane would be, and there is a median that would need to be changed as well.

[DPatel304]

Join The City of Dallas Department of Transportation virtually this Tuesday at 6 PM as they discuss and seek public input on the design of the Union Bikeway project and the proposed amendments to the Thoroughfare Plan that are necessary to implement the project.
The City of Dallas was awarded a federal grant to design and construct the Union Bikeway, which is intended to connect the bike lanes on Houston Street and the Katy Trail to Klyde Warren Park. To incorporate the Union Bikeway into the City’s Thoroughfare Plan, the following amendments are proposed:
1. Nowitzki Way from Houston to Field – 5-lane divided with bicycle facility
2. Field St from Nowitzki Way to Ashland Street – 5-lane divided with bicycle facility
3. Harwood from Cedar Springs to Woodall Rodgers – 3-lane with bicycle facility
The meeting will be held online at:
Sign up here: bit.ly/UnionBikewayProjectInput

I figured it makes sense just to have a single thread consisting of all bike infrastructure related updates (since there generally isn't a lot of them).

[CTroyMathis]

I would like to see the on-the-ground detailed solution for the Ashland portion in particular. If you don't walk it a lot - go to google streetview and start at Field and make your way along to where it hits Cedar Springs before jumping onto Harwood. (If I'm understanding the proposed routing correctly.)

Edit in: https://goo.gl/maps/sNiCVmfZEwYPGUUg8

[DPatel304]

It's really hard to visualize what they have in mind here. Since it's a virtual meeting, I'll probably try and check it out tomorrow and just find out more information about this project.

This seems like a weird area to try and connect, but Dallas needs more bike lanes in general, so I'm not opposed to this at all.

[CTroyMathis]

Here's what looks like a direct link before clicking on a Microsoft Teams link: https://dallascityhall.com/departments/ ... Union.aspx

I'll try to join in also.

[cowboyeagle05]

Its one of those times where you wish Harwood District would jump feet first into a true trail connection down Harwood since its not a super busy street and would be pretty awesome with bikers and pedestrians passing between Uptown and Klyde Warren right by their various street level businesses but we have talked about this before.

Harwood street for them is a garage entry and exit so its really an alley for them and would be somewhat problematic trying to dedicate it for some sort of bike/trail while also maintaining car access for all their exclusive tenants. Its just funny they call it the Harwood District yet Harwood for them is a dump street of lack luster infrastructure and back doors for delivery's.

[DPatel304]

Its one of those times where you wish Harwood District would jump feet first into a true trail connection down Harwood since its not a super busy street and would be pretty awesome with bikers and pedestrians passing between Uptown and Klyde Warren right by their various street level businesses but we have talked about this before.

Harwood street for them is a garage entry and exit so its really an alley for them and would be somewhat problematic trying to dedicate it for some sort of bike/trail while also maintaining car access for all their exclusive tenants. Its just funny they call it the Harwood District yet Harwood for them is a dump street of lack luster infrastructure and back doors for delivery's.

Agreed. I had high hopes for Harwood St. when I heard about a grand vision of making it a pedestrian corridor from the Katy Trail down to Klyde Warren.

I did the walk not too long ago from the Trail to Klyde Warren and it's exactly as you described it. Even the connection to the trail is very underwhelming.

[cowboyeagle05]

Someone else mentioned to me that the Harwood Trail connection wasn't even authorized that Harwood just did it and kinda got in trouble for just deciding to connect without any coordination with the Friends of the Katy Trail and or limited talk to the city. I am not sure how much of that is true though, rumors more likely. I would have expected it to make some sort of news if it was true.

[DPatel304]

That's interesting. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it is there and it is well built, I just feel like they could have been more ambitious with this connection. It feels like they did the bare minimum here, which I don't understand given how popular/successful the trail is.

[DPatel304]

Here's what looks like a direct link before clicking on a Microsoft Teams link: https://dallascityhall.com/departments/ ... Union.aspx

I'll try to join in also.

I was home not doing anything and this meeting completely slip my mind! Did anyone happen to catch this or know what was discussed during the meeting?

[CTroyMathis]

I did the same exact thing. Remembered well after it was over. They did end up putting the presentation online: https://dallascityhall.com/departments/ ... 0Final.pdf

[DPatel304]

Thank you for sharing! It still feels like a weird area to try and connect, but I know the long term plan is to have more and more bike lanes throughout the city, so I definitely welcome this one.

[gosspl]

I think my only hang up about the project is the unwillingness to take away a lane from Field Street. It has four lanes in the southbound direction there, so it could easily donate one without a huge impact to drivers. I also wonder about how street crossings will be handled - will bikes have to hit beg buttons to get a signal to cross?

Otherwise I think it's a great project and much needed. I just wish it didn't take this city 5+ years to essentially restripe some streets and but some bendy poles down. But as they say, progress isn't easy.

[DPatel304]

I just wish it didn't take this city 5+ years to essentially restripe some streets and but some bendy poles down. But as they say, progress isn't easy.

I agree. We're already incredibly behind a lot of other major cities and moving at a snail's pace.

The silver lining to COVID is that it seemed like (for the first few months) it brought a lot of people out biking on the streets. I don't know if that will become a permanent change for some people, but it was nice to see more people getting out there and exploring the city on bike.

[DPatel304]

Given the importance placed on multi-model transportation, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 adopted
budget includes $1.2M for bike lane projects.

• Union Bikeway Project, which will complete a connection between the Katy Trail and Klyde
Warren Park
• Ross Avenue Shared-Use Path (IH 345 to Greenville Avenue)
• Elam Road Shared-Use Path (Pemberton Hill Road to Jim Miller Road). This project will
provide a bicycle connection between two schools, the future shared-use path along
Pemberton Hill Road, and the AT&T Trail
• West Commerce Buffered Bike Lanes (Fort Worth Avenue to Riverfront Boulevard), which
will connect the bike lanes that have already been installed on Fort Worth Avenue to the
future shared-use path on Riverfront Boulevard, as well as connect to the bike lanes on
Beckley Avenue
• Jackson Street Bike Facility (AT&T Plaza to Pearl Street). The funds set aside for this
project in FY 2021 will bring the City one step closer to a dedicated bike facility between
Deep Ellum, the East Quarter District, and AT&T Plaza
• Lovers Lane Shared-Use Path (Lemmon Avenue to Dallas/University Park City Limits),
which will connect to the shared-use path along Lemmon Avenue being implemented by
the Aviation Department, and onto the Bachman Lake Trail

https://dallascityhall.com/government/c ... 123120.pdf

[sterling]

Great photos of the evolving neighborhood. I never thought I'd live to see downtown parks taken seriously, or serious consideration given to pedestrians and bikes. And NEVER thought it would get to this "quirky" human scaled neighborhood, one of my all-time sentimental faves. It's been amazing over the last couple of decades, to witness these quality of life projects come to fruition. Thanks dpatel and dallasmetropolis!

[tamtagon]

^it really is happening, Sterling!

[DPatel304]

Jackson Street Bike Facility (AT&T Plaza to Pearl Street). The funds set aside for this
project in FY 2021 will bring the City one step closer to a dedicated bike facility between
Deep Ellum, the East Quarter District, and AT&T Plaza

I'm excited for this particular extension to happen, it'll be a nice little connector between AT&T Plaza and Deep Ellum which are already booming and the East Quarter which will hopefully be a nice success story as well.

Hopefully it'll encourage more foot traffic along this particular route as well.